How to improve my google adsense CTR?

Question

My website over the past year has 6k ad impressions but the click through rate is 0.12%, which amounts to a mere 7 clicks.

How can I increase the click through rate?

(I'm looking for general strategies rather than specific instructions)

Answer 1

There are a couple of great articles on the web for doing this:

1. 15 Effective Tips
2. Youtube video of how to increase CTR

The most common strategies I know of

1. Move your ads to above the fold on the web so that the ads are always visible when the page loads.
2. Experiment with changing the location of your ads on the page to help them stand out.
3. Add extra space around your ads so they are more visible to the visitor.

Answer 2

One thing to consider is that this may be typical for the niche you're in. For example, this CTR level would be common in infotainment niches, like silly cat pictures or crazy science facts. It is also common in forums and other user interactive sites.

Improvements in placement can help but usually this isn't a huge improvement unless there are some serious placement problems to begin with.

Answer 3

I like to create my adsense blocks the same color and font as the text on the page. This can help with CTR. Also placement is a big deal. You should look at heatmaps to see where users click the most http://adsense.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=17954